Dr.Phil

The collapse of Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries after only 72 days has lead to a cornucopia of discussion on the Kardashians, fame, wealth and excess on television. But 'The Talk' (Weekdays, Syndicated on CBS) used the issue to talk about marriage in general with guest Dr. Phil McGraw.

With more than half of them ending in divorce still in this country, there must be something fundamentally wrong in our thinking when we decide we're ready to get married.

Taylor Armstrong has dealt with an immense amount of trauma in her life. Her deceased ex-husband Russell, who committed suicide in July, was physically abusing her when they were married. Searching for answers about how to move forward, she sought help from 'Dr. Phil' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS).

Armstrong, a cast member on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,' detailed her painful personal history of abuse and shame. She told Dr. Phil how she grew up in an abusive household without a father, and changed her name repeatedly, at one point morphing from Shana Taylor to Taylor Ford because, "I'm a big fan of Tom Ford, he's a designer. Tom Ford, Taylor Ford. It's similar."

Dr. Phil diagnosed Armstrong with what he called "a damaged personal truth." Explaining the condition, he said, "if we think we're damaged, ... then that's exactly what you'll generate in your life. You will not create security in your life for you or your daughter." Hopefully she can move past the cycle of abuse in the next chapter of her life.

Earlier this year, things seemed to be looking up for Ted Williams, the homeless man with the "golden voice" who became an Internet sensation. But Williams still had to wrestle with alcohol and crack addictions, and got some help when Dr. Phil McGraw helped him check into rehab. Williams had an almost immediate relapse, but he returned to 'Dr. Phil' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) Thursday to say he was doing better and offer an apology to Dr. Phil.

Dr. Phil said Williams looked pretty healthy, and Williams agreed that he was. "There were a lot of things I lied about," said Williams. "I owe you some amends, first of all. I lied about my sobriety, and I told people that you had exploited me." Williams explained he had acted to increase his fame and attract more lucrative deals.

'Dr. Phil''s (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) interview with Cindy and George Anthony continued Wednesday, and George gave his thoughts about what he thinks might have happened to his granddaughter Caylee. Specifically, he said he does not believe the theory presented by his daughter's defense team that Caylee may have drowned.

"I don't believe that Caylee drowned," George said. "I just don't believe that. I believe there's something else that happened to her." He went on to say he thinks it's possible that Casey, or someone with her, gave Caylee too much of some substance that caused her to fall asleep and never wake up.

Dr. Phil pressed him for what Caylee might have been given "too much" of. "Possibly some kind of drug or something like that. I mean, there's been speculation about Xanax or whatever it might be," he replied.

Casey Anthony's mother Cindy offered a new explanation for her daughter's history of erratic behavior in an interview on 'Dr. Phil' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS). She acknowledged that Casey's behavior indicated instability, and said she thought it might have had something to do with the seizures Casey suffered, both before and after her arrest.

Defending her daughter, Cindy said Casey "was an awesome mother." Dr. Phil McGraw disagreed. "Other than the fact that she wasn't providing for her daughter," he said, "she was manufacturing friends, playmates, playdates, nannies, all of those sort of things, which to me, is highly unstable behavior."

Cindy pointed to Casey's seizure in November of 2007 as a possible cause. In answer to Dr. Phil's question, Cindy said that her daughter had been medically evaluated but the tests had turned up nothing. "They kept her in the hospital for three days and worked her up and didn't find anything," she said.

Don't worry everyone! Oprah will be OK. But how will we do without her?

She has certainly changed the talk show game, fostering a relationship with fans and our culture that transcends that of most every other host that has come and gone during her tenure as the reigning overlord of daytime talk, with the exception of Jerry Springer who is more like the reigning "guy who cleans up after the strippers."

But what will TV look like in this Post-Oprahpolyptic (I'm trademarking that) time of confusion and sadness?

Let's take a look at what some of you are already experiencing: Life without Oprah.

There's a lot of speculation in the biz about what will Oprah do next. The daytime talk show giant supposedly made up her mind recently and decided that her syndicated show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, would end its run in syndication and move to OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network (formerly Discovery Health). An official announcement is anticipated before the end of the year, but is that really was Oprah has decided? Nobody knows for certain.

There are pros and cons on either side. The companies that syndicated her talk show stand to lose a significant asset if she wraps up the current incarnation and abandons the market. Think of all those afternoon hours around that country that count on Oprah at three or four o'clock, or the morning slots where Oprah leads in to noon newscasts. Companies like CBS Distribution and the Tribune Company have feasted on the robust ratings Oprah has consistently delivered.

"Let's do it!" You can count on hearing this, and all of Dr. Phil's catch phrases, for the next three years as his talk show has been renewed to run through 2013-2014.

'Dr. Phil' first premiered Sept. 16, 2002, and the extension will take the show through its 12th season. Phil McGraw, a quirky Texan clinical psychologist, first came to fame when he helped Oprah Winfrey win a 1998 lawsuit broughton on by cattle farmers who claimed she defamed the beef industry. The daytime talk show queen felt so inspired by McGraw's straight-to-the-point attitude that she invited him to tackle life issues on her show.

In his breakout role on NewsRadio fifteen years ago, Joe Rogan played Joe Garrelli, a maintenance man with deceptively deep springs of knowledge. In a sense, Rogan has been playing that role for his whole career, hosting Fear Factor and The Man Show, commentating for the UFC, while writing increasingly smart stand-up comedy. Rogan's new special, Talking Monkeys in Space (Spike TV, June 20 midnight), is his best work to date.

Rogan takes on the legalization of marijuana, Dr. Phil, and technology with brutal logic. His last television day gig, Game Show In Your Head, is over but he says he doesn't mind. He's still doing what he loves most - stand-up comedy and commentating for the UFC, and he's got a new Web series on Crackle.com, a sort of Inside the Actors Studio for stand-up comedians, he says will start within the next couple of months.

I spoke with him about all of that, how having a one-year old daughter has changed his perspective, how his personal philosophies have evolved, and the treatment of his frequent rival Carlos Mencia on a recent episode of South Park, in which Mencia was beheaded by Kanye West for stealing a joke he couldn't explain.

Being Oprah's buddy is never bad for one's career. And like former frequent guest stars Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil, now actress, author and former Playboy playmate Jenny McCarthy is poised to be the next "Big O" thing. She has inked a multiplatform deal with Harpo Productions to develop projects of all different kinds, including a talk show of her very own.

While her career may have started in nudity and comedy, she's more recently become known for her books, and her activism in the fight against autism, which her son has.

The first season of Frank Caliendo' s Frank TV debuted with some of the strongest numbers TBS had seen with over three million viewers for its first episode. That was bolstered by a constant barrage of spots during the MLB playoffs, and although that first run was cut to five episodes by the writers' strike, the show's future seemed bright.

Now season two is in the books, and that will do it for Frank TV. Broadcasting & Cable reported yesterday that Caliendo's series has been canceled.

Caliendo entered the second season in an optimistic mood. He had made some changes with the bigger budget TBS gave him, adding people to the cast to address the major criticism from Season One that Caliendo was playing every part. When doing impressions is your main strength, you're probably going to need an ensemble cast. Caliendo is one of the most talented mimics in comedy - watch his face during his signature George W. Bush or John Madden impressions. He gets the physical tics, as well as the voice, perfect.

There's a famous scene in The Godfather: Part III -- the only really memorable one -- where Michael Corleone says, "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in." I thought of that when I read that Oprah Winfrey may not be ending her talk show in 2011 after all. What? I thought it was a done deal, but no. Every time I think she's done, she's back again.

When asked by Access Hollywood about The Oprah Winfrey Show ending in 2011, Ms. W said, "I'm not done." Well, you sure could have knocked me over with a feather. I mean, really, I understand that it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, but I really thought Oprah had other worlds to conquer, other fish to fry.

Okay, so Oprah is obviously the most powerful woman in the universe. She does control the stars and the winds and the planets, after all. She brings us rainbows when we're good and conjures up things like Dr. Phil when we're bad. So what do we call a person who can conjure up Oprah? Tina Fey.

This sounds like it's pretty close to a done deal, as she's already being written into the second episode of the season, airing on November 6th. But what about the big question? Will she be playing Liz Lemon's BFF? There's more info after the jump.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

What's it all mean? It means that syndication upfront totals are expected to be around $2.4 billion, up 4.5% from last year.

Maybe one reason is that syndicators are incorporating more product integration into their packages, especially with talk and entertainment shows. Strong categories include packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, movies, and fast food.

Hmmm ... I wonder what they're saying. That TV viewers sit around eating Big Macs, doing drugs, and woofing down Cheetos? Yeah, that can't be right.